Упражнения и задания по грамматике

Task 2. a) What were the basic principles on which the Constitution was framed?

The framers of the Constitution debated and agreed to the following six principles:

1. That all States would be equal. The National Government cannot give special privileges to one State.
2. That there should be three branches of Government - one to make the laws, another to execute them, and a third to interpret them.
3. That the Government is a government of laws, not of men. No one is above the law. No officer of the Government can use authority unless and except as the Constitution or public law permits.
4. That all men are created equal before the law and that anyone, rich or poor, can demand the protection of the law.
5. That the people can change the authority of the Government by changing (amending) the Constitution. (One such change provided for the election of Senators by direct popular vote instead of by State legislatures).
6. That the Constitution, the Acts of Congress, and the treaties of the United States are the highest law in the land.


b) What is the Bill of Rights?

The Bill of Rights is a series of prohibitions on the enactment by Congress of laws infringing certain rights.

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, ratified by the required number of states on December 15, 1791, are commonly referred to as the Bill of Rights.


c) What are the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights?

Right to freedom of religion, speech, and press (amendment 1);

Right to assemble peaceably, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances (amendment 1);
Right to keep and bear arms in common defense (amendment 2);
Right not to have soldiers quartered in one's own home in peacetime without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war except as proscribed by law (amendment 3);
Right to be secure against "unreasonable searches and seizures" (amendment (4);
Right in general not to be held to answer to criminal charges except upon indictment by a grand jury (amendment 5);
Right not to be put twice in jeopardy for the same offense (amendment 5);
Right not to be compelled to be a witness against oneself in a criminal case (amendment 5);
Right not to be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law (amendment 5);
Right in a criminal prosecution to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, to be informed of the charges, to be confronted with witnesses, to have a compulsory process for calling witnesses in defense of the accused, and to have legal counsel (amendment 6);
Right to a jury trial in suits at common law involving over $20 (amendment 7);
Right not .to have excessive bail required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted (amendment 8).